15 Week Notes

I have seen these pregnancy notes on a few other blogs and thought they would be a great way for me to keep track of/remember my pregnancy. Life moves so quickly and I forget things so easily. I tried to keep a journal when I was pregnant with Connor, but didn't write in it consistently. I haven't even gotten around to BUYING one yet this time, let alone found any time to write. Maybe doing it electronically will be easier for me.

How far along? 15 weeks (16 tomorrow) March 26, 2012

Maternity clothes? Yes, unfortunately.

Stretch marks? No

Sleep: Pretty well. I am waking up less frequently to pee, which is good! Although my energy level has increased in the last few weeks, I'm still ready to head to bed by 8:00 or so every night.

Miss Anything? My morning coffee. I had to stop drinking it when I was feeling so crappy. Now I have it on the weekends, but not during the week because it still occasionally makes me feel nauseous/shaky during the day.

Movement: I think I am feeling it sometimes when I am sitting or crouched down (bent at the waist squishing the baby), but everything I read says I shouldn’t be feeling it yet, so who knows.

Food cravings: No cravings, really, and my aversions are going away. I made chicken fajitas this week! I haven’t been able to deal with raw chicken since the beginning of January!

Gender: Not sure, but at our 12 week ultrasound Mike and I both thought BOY.

Labor Signs: None, thank goodness.

Symptoms: PLUGGED EARS. I hate them. They have also started ringing occasionally. Lovely.

Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: The moodiness is also getting better. I am more teary than usual, though.

Looking forward to: Nine days until our next ultrasound/appointment! Hopefully the little bugger will cooperate so we can find out the gender. We should also get our blood test results that day (the right ones!) so we will know more what we’re dealing with in terms of the platelet antibody issue.

Other news: Connor climbed/fell out of his crib for the first time this week. We told him it must be time to get a big boy bed, and now he has asked multiple times a day for his new bed. I guess we’ll be shopping for a toddler bed next weekend! We were going to have to transition him anyway before the baby comes, but he is just so little...I can’t imagine him in a bed. I know I baby him too much—he’s almost 2 ½ , but I’m just having issues dealing with the fact that he is growing up. I should be grateful, because when to transition him into all these types of things has been a cause of stress for me since I found out we were expecting another one. Like everything else he’s done in his life, Connor is making that decision for me. He’s such a good boy. I’m really blessed with that one! Now if only he would potty train himself, we’d be golden!

Also, even though we've been talking with Connor about the baby and reading "Big Brother" books, I wasn't sure if he really "got" it. On Saturday I said "Is mama's tummy getting bigger?" and he said "Baby in there!" Then we talked about all the things he would do for/with the baby and he seemed pretty excited. I'm happy to know he at least somewhat gets it, so it won't be a total shock to him.

Take care! Julie
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Some News....

Hi Friends,

It's been a while since I have posted...Thanksgiving, to be exact. It isn't for lack of things on my mind, just lack of things I was ready to share. It is getting hard to hide at this point, so here goes.

The Larsen family is expanding! We are expecting baby #2 at the beginning of September. We are excited, stressed, anxious, unsure, all those things that come along with pregnancy. I think I'm actually more nervous this time around!

My pregnancy with Connor seemed to last forever. I was so excited to be a mom, I just couldn't wait. This time around, I need everything to SLOW DOWN! I can't believe that I'm already through my first trimester. There are so many decisions to make and changes that need to take place before we're ready for this baby! Don't get me wrong, I'm excited again....I'm just too busy and stressed out to spend much time thinking about it.

As some of you will recall, Connor was born prematurely (at 34 weeks). Thankfully, he was perfectly healthy, breathed on his own, and had no trouble eating. We were so blessed with our little mini-baby. One thing that was discovered, though, is that his platelet count was low. Again, fortunately, they went up on their own and he never needed a transfusion. Because he had no sign of infection and the platelets did start going up as soon as the cord was cut, they did some blood tests on me. It was discovered that I had an HLA-antibody...something so rare no doctors at my OB clinic had ever heard of it. I had to see a hematologist and perinatologist to see what this meant and how it might affect future pregnancies. Apparently, something clashes when you combine my blood with Mike's blood. Somehow, my body was exposed to Connor's blood/fluids (probably a small tear in the placenta, which is apparently pretty common) and my body created antibodies to fight it off. I am so thankful Connor was born early, because the longer he was in there, the more platelets he would have lost, and labor trauma could have caused him to bleed internally. It is so scary, but I'm so thankful everything turned out the way it did because now we know what we're up against.

As soon as I found out I was pregnant in January, they took a blood sample to see if those antibodies were still present in my blood. If they were, they would start attacking this baby right away. If not, this baby would have the same risk as Connor (much lower). We waited and waited to hear the results of the test. Finally, we had our appointment with the perinatologist (high-risk OB) this past Monday. When we got there, we found out I had been given the wrong test! I was so upset. I'd been worrying about it for over 6 weeks, and no one bothered to notice it was the wrong test!?!? UGH. Anyway, I have now been given the right test and should get the results in a couple weeks. We did find out that there is a plan, though, for preventing both preterm labor and the antibody thing if necessary. Even though we didn't find out if there are antibodies present, we left the appointment feeling pretty good about the fact that there is a plan.

We also got to see the baby on ultrasound for about a half hour. Everything looks perfect! Stubborn little bugger wouldn't allow the ultrasound tech a good measurement. Frustrating for her, great for us because we got to watch our little munchkin for quite a while. Every time I have an ultrasound, I am so amazed by God's goodness. What a miracle babies are!

Aside from worrying about the baby's health, there are also a lot of decisions to make when it comes to transitions for Connor and my job/financial situation. We have a lot on our minds, but I am doing my best to just enjoy this pregnancy and look forward to another sweet little baby. Prayers for a healthy and full term pregnancy are appreciated--I know they help!

Take care! Julie